The announcement this week by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) that estate agents are to be compelled to list more ‘material information’ about sales and lettings properties within their portal listings has been warmly welcomed by the The Guild of Property Professionals.

Writing for EYE yesterday, James Munro, head of National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team, described the move as “a significant first step to defining what constitutes basic material information”.

He also said the move is “a major milestone on the road to mandatory disclosure of all basic material information”, and that includes factors that are specific to individual properties.

The new material information rules will aid in raising the standards within the property sector, and it will increase consumer confidence in the industry, according to Paul Offley, compliance officer at The Guild of Property Professionals.

“I would suspect that all the information required under phase A is already known by the estate agent at the point of instruction so making this information available within the property listing, allows the consumer to be aware and to make an informed choice on their next ‘transactional move’; whether this is to book a viewing or make an offer,” he said.

Offley is delighted that property portals are now making the amendments to allow agents to input the fields.

He continued: “We will be working with members of The Guild of Property Professionals and licensees within the Fine and Country network in supporting implementation of this first phase. The timing of the announcement is perfect for our networks, as we will to add this new information to the topics that will be discussed at the forthcoming conferences for both networks.

“I have been a champion of raising standards within the industry for the last 43 years and this latest move, and the ones planned as part B and C of this paper, really start to make a difference.”

New material information rules a major step towards mandatory disclosure in listings